Dozens of women from the Marshall Islands are traveling to the U.S. every year to adopt out their babies to U.S. families despite government efforts to crack down on this unique baby pipeline. We examine the people and practices that are continuing to perpetuate the problem.

University of Hawaii researchers tracked dozens of hungry tiger
sharks to a remote atoll in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine
National Monument this summer. Civil Beat photojournalist Alana
Eagle documents the expedition in this multimedia special report.

A Civil Beat Investigation: In Hawaii’s workers’ comp system, people with long-lasting injuries are often forced to battle doctors hand-picked by insurance companies to get treatment and disability payments.

Several days a week, Eugene Hopkins spends many hours in a one-bedroom Punchbowl apartment caring for his 97-year-old grand aunt, Dorothy Meadows, who has dementia but responds with smiles to his bellowing voice and general good nature.

The Micronesian exodus is taking tens of thousands of people to communities throughout the U.S. By some estimates, 30 percent of those in the Pacific region have left their home countries, with about half of the immigrants now living on the mainland.

Hawaii and Guam are feeling the effects of thousands of Micronesian immigrants relocating in search of jobs, education and health care. But with the burden on social services comes a rich cultural contribution.

Members of a visiting presidential commission absorb the splendor of Ho'oulu 'Aina Nature Park. Children from Catholic and Buddhist academies unveil a mural to bridge a cultural gap. And the uprooting of the homeless continues in Kakaako.

Enforcement efforts begin to lower the population of a homeless encampment in Kakaako. Meanwhile, residents are asked to provide some personal information in advance of an emergency to help dispatchers send help quicker.

BikeShare Hawaii showed off options for bringing two-wheelers to the masses. Hot-button energy issues were the focus of a high-profile conference. And the Supreme Court held a TMT hearing. But what the world knew about the islands this week was that a sewage spill closed Waikiki beaches.

In Chinatown, a show of support for followers of Falung Gong and their legal action against persecution. Beside Kapalama Canal, a new law to clear out the homeless. And at the Capitol Auditorium, a public meeting on Micronesian immigration.

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